When the kids were younger, we went to Artist For A Day a couple of times a year. It is a great place to go to make a personalized gift for grandparents or parents. We also personalized tiles for when we remodeled our kitchen. Great fun. We have indeed taken off shoes and did footsteps around plates. We have mugs and bowls for clips and hair ribbons.
Now that the kids are older, we only go to the store around Christmas. It is still fun. The kids are getting much better at creating masterpieces and we do have a great time. In fact, we are going again this weekend to make this year's gifts. I do let the kids know in advance so that they can plan what it is that they are going to do.
I don't allow the kids to pain any of the little animals or dragons. There are many useful things to make that it just doesn't make sense to paint dust collectors.
The staff is helpful and will provide assistance if asked. They do pay attention to what you are doing. Again, great fun.